Labour's all-out assault on Trump: Corbyn will SPEAK at street protest against state visit after Sadiq Khan furiously hit back at the President for calling him a 'stone cold loser'
- Jeremy Corbyn backed demonstrators planning to protests the State Visit
- Sadiq Khan blasted 'childish insults' after Trump's mid-air Twitter tirade at him
- US president called London mayor a 'stone cold loser' before Stansted landing
- Labour and Lib Dem figures boycotting state banquet at Buckingham Palace
- Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sniped that the boycott is 'totally inappropriate'
- Mr Hunt insisted visit is 'not political' and celebrates friendship between nations
Jeremy Corbyn will speak at a controversial street demonstration protesting against Donald Trump's state visit tomorrow after Labour became embroiled in an astonishing full-scale diplomatic spat with the US president.
The party said the left-wing opposition leader, who is already boycotting the three-day state visit, 'will attend and speak' at a demonstration expected to bring central London to a standstill.
He had already backed the demonstration saying its was 'an opportunity to stand in solidarity' with those 'attacked' by the American figurehead.
It came after Mr Trump had earlier launched a Twitter tirade at Sadiq Khan, branding the London Mayor a 'stone cold loser' even before touching down on UK soil.
It prompted the mayor to respond by accusing the president of making 'childish insults'.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt laid into Mr Corbyn and Commons Speaker John Bercow for their 'totally inappropriate' boycott.
Mr Trump has lunch with the Queen at Buckingham Palace today along with First lady Melania and other members of the Royal Family
US President Donald Trump (left, arriving at London Stansted Airport with First Lady Melania Trump today) has hit back at comments by London Mayor Sadiq Khan (right)
Jeremy Corbyn said demonstrations were 'an opportunity to stand in solidarity' with those 'attacked' by the American figurehead, who met the Queen and other royals at Buckingham Palace today
Mr Trump said Mr Khan had done a 'terrible job', hitting back after the mayor compared the language used by him to that of 'fascists of the 20th century'.
As he came in to land at London Stansted Airport this morning, Mr Trump tweeted: 'Sadiq Khan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly 'nasty' to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom.
'He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me... Kahn [sic] reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height.'
In return the mayor's office fired back, saying Mr Trump was offering 'childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States'.
Mr Khan later used a video made on conjunction will Elle magazine to attack the president's views on abortion, saying: 'Your values and what you stand for are the complete opposite of London's values and the values in this country.'
A war of words has erupted over the past 24 hours after Mr Khan described Mr Trump as 'just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat'.
The US President and Mr Khan have repeatedly clashed in recent years, including Mr Trump criticising the mayor's response to the 2017 London Bridge terror attack.
In a tweet send shortly before Mr Trump was due to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Mr Corbyn said: 'Tomorrow's protest against Donald Trump's state visit is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with those he's attacked in America, around the world and in our own country - including, just this morning, Sadiq Khan.'
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Mr Khan this afternoon hit out at Donald Trump's views on abortion as their row showed no signs of stopping
As he came in to land at London Stansted Airport this morning, Mr Trump posted these tweets
Mr Trump arrived at Stansted on Air Force One with First Lady Melania this morning
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured at Stansted Airport after meeting Donald Trump today) lashed out at 'virtue signalling' that has seen Labour, the Lib Dems and John Bercow shun a banquet at Buckingham Palace tonight
The Foreign Secretary lashed out at 'virtue signalling' that has seen Labour, the Lib Dems and Mr Bercow shun a banquet at Buckingham Palace tonight.
He insisted the visit was 'not political' and everyone should celebrate the 'great friendship' between the two countries on the anniversary of D-day.
The stinging criticism comes as a raft of senior Labour MPs are preparing to lead as many as 250,000 anti-Trump protesters in a mass demonstration in London tomorrow, aimed at overshadowing the US President's three-day state visit.
On the eve of his visit, Mr Trump issued a chilling warning that America could stop sharing vital intelligence with Britain if Mr Corbyn was in charge.
He said the Labour leader was 'making a mistake' by failing to be friendly because of the country's close co-operation with Britain on military and intelligence matters.
Last night, Mr Trump was asked as he left Washington DC if he would be willing to meet Mr Khan, but compared to him New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
He told DailyMail.com on the South Lawn of the White House: 'No, I don't think much of him. I think that he's a - he's the twin of De Blasio, except shorter.'
Mr De Blasio stands at 6ft 5in, while Mr Khan is thought to be 5ft 6in.
Mr Khan's administration has sanctioned the use of a 20ft blimp depicting Mr Trump as a nappy-wearing baby again during this week's demonstrations.
A 20ft-tall blimp depicting a cartoon baby Donald Trump flew in London during the president's last visit in July 2018 (above) and is expected to make another appearance this week
Mr Bercow announced last year that he would block any effort to grant Mr Trump the honour of a speech to Parliament during his state visit.
The Speaker - who approved a similar speech by the Chinese president in 2015 - turned down an invite to the banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Mr Hunt said people had become accustomed to 'unexpected moments' from Mr Trump over the past two years.
But he insisted the state visit was about celebrating the 'great partnership' with the US.
Asked what he thought of senior figures including the Speaker and Lib Dem leader Vince Cable shunning the visit, Mr Hunt said: 'What is really inappropriate is for anyone to boycott a visit by the President of the US.
'By the way, this is a state visit, this is not a political visit. He is being hosted by Her Majesty the Queen to mark the great friendship between our two countries.
Mr Bercow (pictured in the Speaker's chair) announced last year that he would block any effort to grant Mr Trump the honour of a speech to Parliament during his state visit
'It's not about party politics.'
Mr Hunt said there was a lot of 'virtue signalling' on the Labour side.
'We should be making him feel incredibly welcome on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
A string of other Tory MPs also warned that Labour's attitude was 'putting the special relationship at risk' and it was important to remember that America was Britain's 'closest and most important friend' in the world.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry has revealed she is attending the protest rally, accusing Mr Trump of being a 'racist and a sexual predator'.
She said the US President 'is destroying all the values that have always united Britain and America'.
